RESEARCH INFORMS PRACTICE
PRACTICE INFORMS RESEARCH
About Me
Berlin-based systems theorist, artist and play designer.
My interests include systems theory, play, games, art and cybernetics. I create Playful AI and Imperfect VR. I received a Master-level degree at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (Diplom-Informatiker) and a practice-based PhD from the School of Art, Design and Architecture at the University of Plymouth as a Marie Curie Fellow.
I have been teaching at Leuphana University Lüneburg, been a lecturer and Award Leader in Game Arts and Design at the University of Plymouth and Nanjing University of the Arts. I hold a Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
Besides that, I have a couple of years digital agency experience and have worked and played in a wide range of environments, from large corporate clients to fringe theatre ensembles. I catsit occasionally 😻.
Topics
🔄 Systems Theory
I am actively engaged in artistic research into cybernetics, radical constructivism and systems theory.
🤖 AI / Robots
My work with AI focuses on communication between humans and machines, a fascinating and important topic.
💻 Creative Coding
Creative Coding is an exciting mix of technology and art. I believe that everyone can (not: should) learn to code.
🖼 Digital Art
I like to play with the paradoxes, contradictions, and strange loops inherent in the art system.
🕹 Playful Interactions
My game / play projects start from the premise that games, theatre and events are media and environments for play.
💜 Communication
Communication is at the heart of what I do: writing, teaching, talking, organizing, discussing.
Essays
I occasionally write about topics at the intersection of art and technology. Some of the material is brandnew, other drafts have been sitting on my desk for a while, and some essays have been published before, to be re-edited. Essays feature topics such as AI, VR, art, play, systems or communication, often discussed from a personal experience perspective. Contact me for writing/publishing/syndication inquiries.
July 2018
The story of how the Global Game Jam came to Germany. A brief personal recollection co-organising the event in 2009. Published in July 2018 in the GGJ Book.
August 2021
Imperfect VR and the Miserable Idea of Virtual
Reality.
An essay on Virtual Reality, Imperfection and on Slavoj
Žižek's take of VR as a "miserable Idea". A version in
German is available in print.
Published August 24, 2021.
September 2021
VR and Perception in the Eyes of the Animal
Another essay on Virtual / Mixed Reality, with a focus on
perception. Initially appeared in
A MAZE. Magazine No.4 - Edition: Animals
in 2016.
Published September 30, 2021.
January 2023
ON THE EARLY DAYS OF HIC ET NUNC. An interview by Alex Estorick with Tais Koshino and me on the history of an avantgarde underground digital art movement born in Brasil. Published in January 2023, also published in the RCS book.
September 2025 (est.)
Planned: An essay on theatre, artificial intelligence and power, reflecting on our project Regie:KI and the co-curated symposium on AI and theatre at the Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf.
October 2025 (est.)
Planned: An essay on AI and communication.
Selected Projects
My projects live in the intersection of art and technology. I am arranging this section from time to time. Please contact me if you want to know more about a project.
![Regie: KI [Illustration: Gerd Altmann]](static/img/regie_ki_small.jpg "Regie: KI [Illustration: Gerd Altmann]")
Selected Academic Publications
Some of my academic publications capturing thoughts about systems theory, artistic practice, play, AI and other stuff. Between 350 and 55000 words. More comprehensive selections on both Researchgate and Academia.edu.
Designing Playful Systems
My PhD thesis (2020), ostensibly describing systems theory, practice and play. Covertly about deconstructing truth and replacing definitions with distinctions.
The Communication Problem
...in which I argue that AI should be concerned with communication instead of information. Note that philosophers don't use SSL.
Games, AI, and Systems
A speculative piece (2020) that also takes aim at bad speculation, especially the Californian Ideology style AGI / singularity bubble.
Do Machines Produce Art? No. (A Systems-Theoretic Answer.)
Jab, cross, hook. Abstract for a talk (2019) delivered at Art Machines: International Symposium on Computational Media Art in Hong Kong.
(How) Does Play Matter? A Transdisciplinary Approach to Play and its Relation to Neurobiology, Creativity and Deception.
A transdisciplinary look at play (2016).
Playful Locative Ensembles in the Urban Soundscape
Collaboration with Sebastian Quack (Invisible Playground). We discuss three locative sound projects by Circumstance, Sebastian and me (2016).
